on Aug 2nd, 2009Astrology horoscopes
Astrology horoscopes
Astrology has been around for centuries and is proof of humans’ belief in the stars and the divine. While the basic assumptions in astrology remain the same, it has evolved in different ways in different cultures. Today 3 main traditions of astrology exist - Vedic, Western and Chinese. Within these three there exist several versions and culture specific kinds of astrology. In all kinds of astrology, horoscopes are a common feature. A horoscope quite literally means “looking at the hours”. In astrology horoscopes play and important role and are basically charts or drawings that represent the positions of the sun, moon and the planets at a specific time or event like at the time of birth. Horoscopes are used universally and may be known by any of several names like astro-chart, astrological chart, star-chart, sky-map, chart-wheel etc. Today in the field of astrology, horoscopes is a term that is being loosely used synonymously with interpretations made on the basis of the western zodiac signs. Almost all newspapers and magazines run a column titled Horoscopes, under which there are predictions given based on the position of the sun in relation to the zodiac. This is the modern lay-person’s approach to a horoscope. In traditional astrology, horoscopes can be considered to be a fancy map of the sky over a specific place at a specific time. A horoscope has several features on it including the positions of the sun, moon and planets along with lunar nodes, houses, fixed stars etc. In astrology, horoscopes are generally constructed around the ‘native’ which is the basically the time and place of the event (like birth) under consideration. This native is in the centre of the ‘celestial sphere’ which is of random radius. The celestial bodies are drawn on this sphere depending on their distance from the native. As part of astrology, horoscopes also have houses charted. These houses are basically twelve divisions of the ecliptic (orbits of the earth and sun). The house positions remain fixed in relation to that of the native. The divisions can be made in any fashion, and in case of equal houses, twelve equal houses are charted. The planets and the zodiac signs move through all the houses in the span of a day. In astrology, horoscopes are made by a knowledgeable astrologer who needs to know the precise time and place of the birth or any event under consideration. This time is next converted to Greenwich Mean Time. To make the chart the astrologer has to refer to some tables (ephimeris) which list the position of the sun, moon and planets for specific years, days and times. These are marked onto the horoscope taking into consideration the longitudinal difference between the GMT and the place being considered. Basically horoscopes are complex to create and difficult to interpret. It needs a lot of training, practice and belief in order to study and predict using horoscopes.
